chilli and garlic prawn linguine with bacon, zucchini and lemon

Prawns are a delicious and special treat. I like to buy them whole and then shell, de-vein and remove the head and tail myself. Well I don’t really ‘like’ doing the actual task (slow, laborious etc), but I prefer the taste of the prawns vs the already shelled and blanched ones you can buy.

There are also times when I like to cook prawns with the shell and head on, and then peel and suck the juices out of them, but when making a pasta, I want their meat only.

So using some of may favourite ingredients I had on hand after making my prawn and zucchini pizza with mozzarella soaked in cream, I thought to make a pasta. And then to take the whole dish onto another level of awesome, I decided to add bacon.

Bacon + prawn = heavenly combo

with a sprinkling of lemon zest and thyme to keep it fresh

Zucchini (courgette) is one of my favourite vegetables and I love cutting them into fine strips as I find they cling so well to the linguine, as well as look really pretty.

So this is what you need to make this pasta

*I have listed ingredients in more or less for a single serving, just extrapolate up according to how many people you would like to feed.

** I find pasta dishes one of the most simple things to make and always cook from feel, tasting as I go. Adding a bit of this or extra seasoning as I taste and go.

70 – 100gm linguine (I used whole wheat organic pasta because its healthier, its lower in GI and frankly I prefer the taste)

6 – 8 large prawns

2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon finely chopped

2 small zucchini or 1 large sliced into ribbons using a potato peeler, and then cut into smaller strips

1 clove of garlic crushed

half a green chilli finely cut

a splash of cream and 50gm mozzarella *optional and to add some richness to the dish

a few sprigs of thyme or chopped parsley

lemon zest to taste

lemon juice to taste

olive oil

salt and pepper

How to make this:

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water

just before the pasta is ready, add the zucchini strips to the water and cook for about 2 minutes, then strain in a colander, set aside (I drizzled a bit of basil infused olive oil to ensure the pasta does not stick)

heat a pan and fry the bacon until crispy, remove and set aside

in the same pan, with a bit of the bacon fat lining it, very quickly fry the prawns until just starting to turn pink

as they turn pink, add the garlic and chilli to the pan and toss around a bit. I find if I add the garlic at the beginning when I add the prawns, it can burn a bit

then squeeze over a bit of lemon juice and a few grates of zest along with the thyme or chopped parsley (or both)

add the bacon back, along with the pasta and zucchini and mix it about ensuring all the ingredients are heated

at this point add the cream and mozzarella if you want a more indulgent pasta, otherwise its a lovely, lighter and zesty dish

add salt and black pepper if necessary and serve

I loved everything about this dish and can see it take over the spot of ‘my signature pasta dish’.

I was wondering what to do with the prawns and courgette that were lurking in my fridge and was delighted to find your recipe! Our local butchers has ‘the best’ smoked bacon rashers in existence so any excuse to pick some up is welcome. This was delicious and is now one of my favourite pasta dishes – I will be making it again for sure. Thank you for sharing!!